Instant dried ingredients are dried ingredients that can be converted to a comestible state in a short period of time (for example, 3 to 5 min) by a preparation method, such as reconstitution in hot water, boiling, or addition of water and heating in a microwave oven. They are able to be stored for prolonged periods, and are mainly added to products, such as instant noodles, instant miso soups and instant chazukes. Such instant dried ingredients not only impart color to the product, but are also appealing aspects of the product and are one of the most important elements of the product.
Conventional instant dried ingredients that are known include vegetables, livestock meat and processed meat products. Examples of instant dried vegetable ingredients include potato, cabbage, Welsh onion, and seaweed, which have been dried either in their original form or after pretreatment, such as seasoning or boiling, to a final moisture content of about 2 to 3 mass % by a freeze-drying (FD) method or hot air drying (AD) method. Examples of instant dried ingredients of livestock meat include beef, pork and chicken, which have been dried either in their original form or after pretreatment, such as seasoning or boiling, by an FD or AD method. Examples of instant dried ingredients of processed meat products include processed meat products obtained from livestock meat or fish meat starting materials, including sausages, char siu, diced meat, kamaboko, and fish sausages, which have been dried by an FD or AD method.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H06-319488 discloses dried fish meat and livestock meat products and a method for producing them. The invention of this publication discloses a technique for improving reconstitution of dried fish meat and livestock meat products by using heat-coagulating β-1,3-glucan, saccharides and treated starch products.